On Socialism and Internationalism · 2020. 10. 8. · works of Che Guevara. She is the research coordinator of the Che Guevara Studies Center (Havana), which is headed by Che's widow,

On Socialism and Internationalism

Ernesto 'Che' Guevara

On Socialism

and Internationalism

Preface by María del Carmen Ariet García

Introduction by Aijaz Ahmad

First published in October 2020

LeftWord Books2254/2A Shadi KhampurNew Ranjit NagarNew Delhi 110008INDIA

LeftWord Books is the publishing division of Naya Rasta Publishers Pvt. Ltd.

leftword.com

Cover: Tings Chak

Message to the Tricontinental is an edited version of the text published by Executive Secretariat of the Organization of the Solidarity of the Peoples of Africa, Asia, and Latin America (OSPAAAL), April 16, 1967, under the title 'Create Two, Three . . . Many Vietnams, That Is the Watchword'.

Socialism and Man in Cuba is an updated translation of the text published by the Uruguayan weekly Marcha, March 12, 1965.

This publication is published collaboratively by a network of twenty publishers (see pp. 92-93 for the complete list), and is issued under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.5 India (CC BY-SA 2.5 IN) license. The human-readable summary of the license is available at https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.5/in/

7

ConTenTS

Ernesto 'Che' Guevara:

Socialism, the New Human Being,

and the Third World 9

María del Carmen Ariet García

Introduction 17

Aijaz Ahmad

Short Chronology

of Ernesto 'Che' Guevara 33

Message to the Tricontinental 39


Socialism and Man in Cuba 63


9

MARíA DEL CARMEN ARIET GARCíA *

erneSTo 'Che ' Guevara:

SoCialiSM, The new huMan BeinG,

and The Third world

The years 1965 and 1966 are defining events in the

process of Che's revolutionary development; they mark

the culmination and beginning of a new stage. From the

triumph of the Cuban Revolution in 1959 to his departure

from Cuba in 1965 to undertake internationalist

missions in the Congo and Bolivia, Che left a body of

work and thought. In these writings, he aimed to express

his opinions and conclusions about the construction of

socialism in the so-called Third World countries, drawing

from his work in Cuba and the various roles and tasks he

took on. Furthermore, he also drew on the accumulated

* María del Carmen Ariet García is a leading researcher on the life and works of Che Guevara. She is the research coordinator of the Che Guevara Studies Center (Havana), which is headed by Che's widow, Aleida March. María del Carmen led the socio-historical investigation that ultimately succeeded in finding Che Guevara's remains in Bolivia in 1997, thirty years after his assassination.

10

María del C arMen arie t G arCía

experiences of the socialist world, especially from the

USSR, and he drew deeply from a detailed study of the

works of Marx, Engels, and Lenin.

There are countless writings, articles, speeches, and

reflections from this period where Che specifies which

objectives, projections, and actions should prevail in

undertaking the transition to socialism, the essential

goal for achieving the liberation and emancipation

of humanity. In almost all of his work, Che's main

theses are present, among them the consistent action

towards making poor and underdeveloped countries

independent and sovereign nations. This premise would

have as its focus the formation of a new type of human

being as a carrier of changes to take on the fight against

exploitation and all forms of domination.

If we analyse his speech at the United Nations in

December of 1964, we see that the first months of 1965

marked the end of a stage and the beginning of Che's

journey throughout Africa. On this trip to Africa, Che

met with leaders of different nations and with leaders

of national liberation movements. During the Second

Economic Seminar of Afro-Asian Solidarity held in

Algiers in February of that year, Che delivered what was

for many a shocking and controversial speech. In it, he

spoke sharply and specified his positions on the role

to be played by the Third World, its confrontation with

capitalism, and the need for the socialist countries to

11

ErnEs to ‘ChE’ GuE var a

support their struggles for national liberation.

Beyond the criticisms and contradictions generated

by these pronouncements, recent history has proven him

right in light of the irreparable damage caused by the

lack of unity and coherence in the defence of socialism

and in ambiguous and dogmatizing positions. If we were

to reflect on the path that Che chose, we would see that,

after a few months, his decision to begin a new stage had

become foreseeable. He embarked on this new stage of

struggle to ignite the flame of people's liberation without

leaving aside the 'attempt', as he wrote, to offer some

conclusions on the integral principles that should be part

of the formation of the new human being of the twenty-

first century.

The brief statement of what was expressed in Algiers

by itself justified the publication of two emblematic

texts of Che's theoretical production, 'Socialism and

Man in Cuba' (1965) and 'Message to the Tricontinental:

Create Two, Three . . . Many Vietnams' (1966).

'Socialism and Man in Cuba' was published for the

first time on March 12, 1965, in Uruguay by the journal

Marcha. It was written during Che's stay in Algiers, where he delivered the previously mentioned speech. From

April to November of that year, Che participated in the

struggle for the liberation of the Congo. Following his

custom, Che wrote of the experience in the Congo in a

text entitled 'Congo Diary: Episodes of the Revolutionary

12


War in the Congo', in which he recollects 'a bitter

experience' but one of enormous value as an example of

the dedication of the people in the struggle.

Che's departure from the Congo became a crossroads

which turned into both a dilemma and an alternative, as

it led him to his decision to fight for the total liberation of

Latin America. This decision to fight beyond Cuba was

not unknown to some. Since the distant days of training

in Mexico when he promised to fight for the overthrow

of the Batista dictatorship under Fidel's command, Che

also committed that, once Cuba was liberated, he would

continue the struggle in other countries in the region.

The years 1955 and 1956 marked the beginning of a

new facet of life for the person who would become Che

Guevara, the revolutionary. This period would eventually

lead to the triumph of an authentic people's revolution in

Cuba in 1959, conquered through struggle and with the

support of the masses. Initially, Che was moved by his

commitment towards Fidel's leadership; later, elements

of his early thought and his commitment to action

were incorporated in the revolutionary process, which

transformed Che Guevara into a socialist.

The total dedication to the work of the revolution

led Che to a multiplicity of tasks and responsibilities

aimed at responding to and solving conflicts in the

most expeditious ways in order to move countries in

underdeveloped and dependent conditions towards

13


socialism. This effort and its multiple directions led him

to the transformative task of laying the fundamental

foundations for the construction of the new society.

Among the evaluations that have been made of his

contributions, two vital elements are worth highlighting:

1) his total dedication to studying the conditions to make

the chosen path of building socialism more coherent

and consistent; and 2) his reflections on the experiences

that were put into practice in Cuba. The island would

become an example that could serve as a foundation

for other countries that were under similar conditions

and were determined to fight for the greater well-being

of the people and for social development.

As part of a consistent practice, this interest

compelled him to write texts such as 'Socialism and Man

in Cuba' before he departed from Cuba. Though he left

Cuba, Che did not forget or abandon the principles for

which he fought and worked, not only to consolidate the

Cuban revolution but also to propel others onto the road

to socialism.

It is not by chance—neither in name nor in practice—

that the primary focus of Che's thought was placed on

the fundamental role of the human being as a subject

acting and committing to the work that he or she is a

part of. In Che's opinion, subjectivity and its material

expression are actively enhanced as a consequence of

the conscious action of the subject. Here, Che follows

14


the principles wielded by Marx from the early period

of his theory. Like Marx, Che was committed to radical

transformation—a transformation that must emerge

in order to undertake the enormous structural changes

of the new society that would substitute the archaic

capitalist society.

From that perspective, the reflections elaborated by

Che and the need to continue and deepen them become

very clear. Among these reflections is historical memory,

which is characterized by ascents and setbacks, as

is any process of change, which can be improved. It is

important to highlight that what is at stake is to carry

out a larger project whose centre comes from the human

being as the one who must mould himself and mould

the whole.

The ways forward and possible solutions are to be

found on this higher scale. However difficult it may seem,

human beings become the main protagonists who must

be formed, like malleable clay. But, they must be formed

with the intrinsic properties required by any mechanism

that is capable of acting as a necessary instrument for

change as a whole. It is a complex and exhausting task—

one that is often beyond the immediate capacities of

the human being—but it is an essential aspect of this

new human being that we must create together.

Che's consistent line on how to create the new

human being and how to convince others that a project

15


was achievable did not spare him from reflecting on

the difficult conditions of subsistence and exploitation

in which many people had to live, a reality in the most

bleak and ignored areas of the world. One such example

of this was Cuba's achievement of socialism in the

conditions of dependency and underdevelopment. This

so-called 'Third World' that rose to fight for real change

became a new goal for Che, who understood the real

possibility of victory if he could manage to raise the

people's consciousness and to create the unity that was

necessary to achieve it. This was not—and is not—an

easy path. Still, it is possible to come closer to achieving

this if the forces are identified that are necessary to reach

the ultimate solution, and to achieve a new hegemonic

power. This is what Che expressed in Algiers and what he

attempted to do in the Congo and in Bolivia. Che would

finally be assassinated in Bolivia, but it is here, too, that

the seed waits to germinate in the new human beings,

who are capable of leading their destinies towards a

better world.

That is the essence of his last theses, in which he

brings together the dispossessed, united in a message

entitled 'Message to the Tricontinental'. Che's 'Message'

was written in response to a war that represented the

most brutal fight in his time and yet, simultaneously,

the most integral fight for humans willing to struggle for

their dignity and total emancipation.

16


The historical setbacks that humanity has undergone

are tragic. Logically, people like Che and their loyalty to

principles are attacked, and many efforts are made to

eliminate them. Nevertheless, the force of Che's thought

and actions have become an integral paradigm of these

new times. This is reason enough to seek to understand

and, in turn, learn from the importance of the works

republished in this volume. 'Socialism and Man in Cuba'

and 'Message to the Tricontinental' complement each

other; they were thought of and written to speak of

the struggle and of the triumph and the consolidation

of this process, where humanity is and will be centred,

and where all efforts must be directed towards spiritual

growth. When examined from the point of unity and

integration, this is the beginning and continuity of a

real and possible strategy, one made up of an extremely

powerful force from all the countries that live on the

fringes of marginality. It remains, paraphrasing Che, to

build a liberating will of the human being, where 'new

battle cries of war and victory' resound that enable us to

envision the future.

★

17

AIjAz AHMAD *

inTroduCTion

Humanity is the Homeland.

—josé Martí

We ourselves will make the man of the twenty-

first century.

—Che Guevara

★

Ernesto 'Che' Guevara (1928–1967), author of the two

classic texts brought together here, was a man who

lived his life in the future tense, in permanent rebellion

against the world made by capital and empire, and as

fighter for revolutionary transformation of that world. A

great difficulty in reading him is that he lived and died

in a moment of history radically different from ours. His

was a time when roughly one-third of humanity lived in

* Aijaz Ahmad is one of the leading Marxist scholars in the world. He is Senior Fellow at Tricontinental: Institute of Social Research..

18

AijA z A hm A d

socialist countries, a worldwide systemic confrontation

between capitalism and communism was a fact of

daily life, and wars of national liberation were raging in

all three continents of Asia, Africa and Latin America.

This was the heroic age of anti-imperialist struggles,

so to speak, in which the intrinsic connection between

revolutionary nationalism and communism was self-

evident for countless millions of people. As such, Che's

writings have the feel of messages sent in a bottle from

a revolutionary past that we intercept as they go on their

way to a revolutionary future.

Che was barely 39 years old when he was murdered

by imperialism and its henchmen. Studying his life, one

has the sense of meteoric speed and of several lives

rolled into one. He had trained as a doctor but had

also travelled through much of Latin America before

finishing his medical studies. Argentinian by birth,

he first studied Marxism more or less systematically

during his brief sojourn in Guatemala in 1954, and it

was there that he first volunteered to take up arms

against imperialism, to defend the progressive Árbenz

government during the coup staged by the CIA and its

mercenaries. He escaped to Mexico where he met Fidel,

won his confidence, and made a lifelong commitment

to the revolution in Cuba. joining initially as a doctor for

the group of revolutionary exiles, he soon emerged as

one of the leading commanders of the Rebel Army and

19

Introduc tIon

quickly became something of a legend—and a major

theoretician—in the annals of guerrilla warfare.

After the Revolution, Che took up key positions in the

revolutionary government such as that of President of the

National Bank and the Minister of Industries while also

serving as something of a roving ambassador for Cuba

in countless capitals of Europe, Asia and Africa, and as

a spokesman for the country at numerous international

forums, from Algiers to New York. Some of these trips

were open and official, which included diplomatic and

trade negotiations, including discussions that led to

a close, multi-faceted alliance with the Soviet Union

and other socialist countries; others were clandestine,

with the aim of opening and/or coordinating diverse

revolutionary fronts against imperialism. The last and

possibly the most ambitious of those clandestine trips, to

initiate a revolutionary war in Bolivia that was intended

to spread into Argentina, proved fatal, as his guerrilla

base was ambushed while he himself was captured and

murdered by a CIA-led contingent of the Bolivian Army.

Even as he lived this tumultuous life as a practical

revolutionary, he also left behind a formidable

intellectual legacy, some of which is yet to be translated

from Spanish into other languages. We are presenting

two texts here which illustrate different facets of his

formidable erudition and intellect. Each was written for

a specific purpose and the contents of each are therefore

20

AijA z A hm A d

determined by that purpose. However, the ideas that are

expressed here with great force had been germinating

in his intellectual repertoire for several years and some

articulations of them can be found in a number of his

earlier writings and speeches, such as 'Social Ideals

of the Rebel Army' (1959), 'Cuba: Historical exception

or vanguard in the anticolonial struggle?' (1961), 'The

Revolutionary Doctor' (1960), 'To be a Young Communist'

(1962), and more.

Let us begin with the context and contours of his

'Message to the Tricontinental'. Cuba hosted the First

Conference of Solidarity with the Peoples of Africa, Asia,

and Latin America (the Tricontinental Conference) in

Havana, january 3–15, 1966. The Conference brought

together 512 delegates as well as more than 270 guests

and observers from 82 countries. The Organization of

Solidarity with the Peoples of Africa, Asia and Latin

America (OSPAAAL) was founded at the end of the

Conference, on january 15, 1966, which, in turn, published

the Tricontinental Bulletin that disseminated news of anti-imperialist struggles from all corners of our

three continents, and the bimonthly theoretical organ,

Tricontinental, which served as a forum for publishing the writings of anti-imperialist thinkers from the

oppressed nations.

Mehdi Ben Barka, the great Moroccan Marxist

in the anti-imperialist mould, who was president of

21

Introduc tIon

the international organizing committee for the First

Tricontinental Conference, described its significance in

the following words:

The meeting of anti-imperialist organizations in

Havana is a historical event because it will unite, in a

demonstration of consensus and solidarity, two large

contemporary currents of the world revolution: that

of the socialist October and the national liberation

struggle of Third World countries; [and] because

it will be held in Cuba, where both revolutions are

taking place . . .

The two texts of Che Guevara brought together in

this publication can be read as overlapping reflections

on this dialectical connection between communism and

anti-imperialism in our epoch.

Che was on his mission of revolutionary solidarity

and combat in Africa when the Conference took place in

Havana. He drafted his message not for the Conference

itself but for a special inaugural issue of the journal that

was published on April 16, 1967, and where it appeared

under the title Che had given it: 'Create Two, Three . . .

Many Vietnams, That Is the Watchword'. The other text

appeared under the title 'Socialism and Man in Cuba' in

the historic Uruguayan magazine Marcha in March 1965. The 'Message to the Tricontinental' was composed as a

22

AijA z A hm A d

call to arms for a worldwide revolutionary uprising against

capital and empire: 'imperialism is a world system, the

last stage of capitalism—and it must be defeated in a

world confrontation . . . [L]et us develop a true proletarian

internationalism; with international proletarian armies'.

The other essay, 'Socialism and Man in Cuba', is partly a

reflection on the revolutionary process in Cuba but is also,

to a very significant degree, a reflection on the meaning

of communism itself as a process that transforms not

only systems of production and class relations, but

also human beings themselves: 'The ultimate and most

important revolutionary aspiration: to see man liberated

from his alienation . . . the individual will reach total

consciousness as a social being, which is equivalent to

the full realization as a human being, once the chains of

alienation are broken. This will be translated concretely

into re-appropriating one's true nature through liberated

labour . . .' Some passages in this text read as if Che is

rewriting passages from Marx's Manuscripts of 1844 but with a sense of immediacy, as a wager at hand and

as a possibility opened up by the very dynamics of the

Cuban Revolution and what it could teach, through its

example, to liberation struggles unfolding in different

corners of the three continents.

'Message to the Tricontinental' begins with a

reflection on the kind of 'peace' that had prevailed during

the roughly two decades since the end of the Second

23

Introduc tIon

World War in 1945 and mounts, inter alia, an audacious attack on the theory of peaceful coexistence without

mentioning the theory per se. He concedes that there had surely not been war between the two great superpowers,

the US and the USSR, but the question implicit in the

first few pages of the text is this: does the absence of

war among great powers really amount to 'peace'

and 'peaceful coexistence'? Furthermore, is 'peaceful

coexistence' with imperialism really possible? And, is

imperialism itself not a force of permanent war across

the globe? That is why he begins his text with comments

on the Korean War that started almost immediately

after the Second World War and in which, as he puts

it, 'Under the discredited flag of the United Nations,

dozens of countries under the military leadership of the

United States participated'. The US deployed close to

two million military personnel in that war and dropped

a total of 635,000 tons of bombs, including 32,557 tons

of napalm. As Che begins his comments on Vietnam, he

emphasizes that it has fought against three imperialist

powers from three different continents: France, japan,

and the United States. We might add that the tonnage

of bombs dropped by the US on Vietnam exceeded all

the tonnage dropped by all sides during the Second

World War. Even though Che emphasizes that 'the focal

point of all contradictions at present is the territory of

the peninsula of Indochina and the adjacent areas', he

24

AijA z A hm A d

mentions Korea and Vietnam as primary examples of the numerous 'confrontations' the US had imposed since

the Second World War on oppressed peoples across the

globe. Indeed the US and its allies had been invading

and otherwise undermining so many Third World

countries with such ferocity that this global machinery

of imperialist war amounted to something resembling a

Third World War, i.e. a war on the Third World as a whole

in an era of peaceful coexistence between Superpowers.

This argument leads to a thinly veiled but bitter

criticism of the leading socialist countries and the

inadequacy of their support for Vietnam while also noting

the drastic consequences of the Sino-Soviet split in the

midst of this imperialist war. The first salvo in this line

of reasoning comes in the form of a broad admonition,

addressed to all but to no one in particular: 'It is not a

matter of wishing success to the victim of aggression,

but of sharing his fate; one must accompany him to his

death or to victory.' But then he elaborates:

US imperialism is guilty of aggression; its crimes are

enormous and cover the whole world. We already

know all that, gentlemen! But this guilt also applies

to those who, in the defining moment, hesitated to

make Vietnam an inviolable part of the socialist

world, running, of course, the risks of a war on a global

scale, but also forcing a decision upon imperialism.

25

Introduc tIon

Those who maintain a war of abuse and snares—

started quite some time ago by the representatives

of the two greatest powers of the socialist camp—

are guilty, too.

We must ask ourselves, seeking an honest answer:

Is Vietnam isolated, or is it not? Is it not maintaining

a dangerous equilibrium between the two quarrelling

powers?

By 'two quarrelling powers', Che is of course referring

to the USSR, the People's Republic of China, and the

Sino-Soviet split which had the effect of undermining

the world communist movement as a whole. This was

not just Che's position. Earlier, speaking from the steps

of Havana University in 1965, Fidel had said:

. . . not even the attacks against North Vietnam

have resulted in overcoming the divisions in the

bosom of the socialist family. And who can doubt

that this division is encouraging the imperialists?

Who can doubt that a united front against the

imperialist enemy would have made them hesitate—

would have made them think a little more carefully

before launching their adventurist attacks and their

increasingly more brazen intervention in that part of

the world?

26

AijA z A hm A d

Even though Cuba was itself under dire threat from

US imperialism, Fidel and Che had the courage of

their conviction that a just and necessary criticism of

a fraternal socialist country in a given situation did not

amount to a breach in solidarity.

This line of thinking—that true solidarity with a

victim of aggression implies not just sympathy but

the willingness to fight and share the victim's fate;

that 'a united front against the imperialist enemy'

was necessary if Vietnam was to be protected and

imperialism defeated on the global scale—led then

to the primary theme of Che's 'Message to the

Tricontinental': his advocacy of 'Two, Three . . . Many

Vietnams'. That was the objective of the Tricontinental

Conference and the institutions it created: the vision of

coordinated revolutionary armed struggles across the

three continents that would overwhelm imperialism by

forcing it to disperse its forces all over the world and

imposing on it a level of costs of war that would erode its

economic power. There is no sense here that the ordeal

would be easy: these anti-imperialist fronts are bound to

have 'their share of deaths and their immense tragedies'.

Nor should it be thought that these views were peculiarly

Che's. Fidel was to say something almost identical in

his closing speech at the Tricontinental Conference: 'for

the Cuban revolutionaries the field of battle against

imperialism takes in the whole world . . . Cuban fighters

27

Introduc tIon

can be counted on by the revolutionary movement in any

corner of the earth . . . as the Havana Declaration says,

the duty of every revolutionary is to effect the revolution,

and effect it in deed not in word.'

Che composed this text on the eve of his departure

for Bolivia to open just such a front, knowing lucidly well

that he was staking his own life for his convictions. It

ends, therefore, with something of a dirge for a death

foretold and accepted in advance: his own. The following

can only be read as a premonition of what was to come:

[I]f some day we have to breathe our last breath on

any land, already ours, sprinkled with our blood, let it

be known that we have measured the scope of our

actions. We only consider ourselves elements in the

great army of the proletariat . . . Our every action is

a battle cry against imperialism, and a battle hymn

for the people's unity against the great enemy of

mankind: the United States of America. Wherever

death may surprise us, let it be welcome, provided

that this, our battle cry, may have reached some

receptive ear and another hand may be extended

to wield our weapons and other men be ready to

sing the funeral hymns with the staccato singing of

the machine guns and new battle cries of war and

victory.

28

AijA z A hm A d

The first couple of pages of Che's other text here,

'Socialism and Man in Cuba', are concerned with

clarifying some details pertaining to the making of

the Cuban Revolution. All the rest is concerned with

what he considers to be the central undertaking of the

revolutionary project, and therefore of communism

itself. In some earlier texts, Che had offered a rather

interesting account of the relationship between the

Cuban Revolution and Marxism. In his 'Speech to the

First Latin American Youth Congress', for instance, he

had said:

. . . if this revolution is Marxist—and listen well that I

say Marxist—it is because the revolution discovered,

by its own methods, the road pointed out by Marx . . .

if today we are putting into practice what is known

as Marxism, it is because we discovered it here . . . In

those days . . . a small pamphlet written by Mao Tse-

tung fell into our hands . . . The popular forces here,

without knowing of the manuals already written

about the strategy and tactics of guerrilla warfare,

used the same methods as those used on the opposite

side of the world to combat the dictatorship's forces.

In his 'Notes on the Ideology of the Cuban Revolution',

he writes:

29

Introduc tIon

We, practical revolutionaries, initiating our own

struggle, simply fulfil laws foreseen by Marx, the

scientist. We are simply adjusting ourselves to the

predictions of the scientific Marx as we travel this

road of rebellion . . . The laws of Marxism are present

in the events of the Cuban Revolution, independently

of what its leaders profess or fully know of those laws

from a theoretical point of view . . .

These are extraordinary passages. Che, Fidel, and

their comrades were 'practical revolutionaries' who knew

little of Marxist theory of the proletarian revolution

or Mao's theory of guerrilla warfare when they were

assembling their guerrilla army and setting out to make

what amounted to a proletarian revolution. Rather, it was

the revolutionary practice itself which demonstrated to

them the objective truth of Marxist theory. In 'Socialism

and Man in Cuba', he goes on to castigate Western

Marxism for holding on to Marx's proposition that

revolution is possible only after advanced capitalism has

realized all its inherent possibilities and is rent asunder

by its own contradictions—whereas, he points out, Lenin

had already replaced that notion with his interconnected

theories of imperialism and the weakest link, which in

turn means that revolutions were henceforth much more

likely in the oppressed nations than in the advanced

capitalist ones. But then, once a poor, oppressed country

3 0

AijA z A hm A d

like Cuba does make a revolution, must it then launch on

the policy of what used to be called 'socialist primitive

accumulation' and try to 'catch up' with the advanced

West? Or, is it imperative to follow a different path?

According to Che's argument in this text,

Tricontinental revolutions have to base themselves on

a wager: that decent, egalitarian, fundamentally good

and gracious societies can in fact be built at relatively

low levels of industrial production and material wealth;

that it is possible to try to transform not only the relations

and forces of production as conventionally understood,

so as to produce the material conditions essential to the

security, well-being and intellectual development of the

people, but also to help recover those potentialities of

human nature that capitalism distorts and destroys and

which are essential for the building of a socialist culture

and a humane society. In this view, the worst crime

of imperialism is that it distorts human nature itself,

suppressing the sociality and spontaneous openness

to others that is intrinsic to human nature, and creates,

instead, self-centred and acquisitive individuals that are

indifferent to the well-being of others—turning the world

into a crowd of aliens. In Che's view, the making of what

he calls the 'new man and woman'—the unalienated

individual with an intrinsic orientation towards a radical

sociality—is the central task in creating a socialist society.

At one end of his vision were the basic structures of

31

Introduc tIon

well-being that would guarantee the material securities

without which moral solidarities with others are very

difficult indeed, i.e. provisions for health, education,

nutrition, etc., not to speak of the ability to endure and

develop collectively despite the extreme imperialist

violence against the Cuban people. At the other end

was a vision of international solidarities and obligations.

The dialectic of nationalism and internationalism, so to

speak.

★

33

ShorT ChronoloGy

of erneSTo 'Che ' Guevara

June 14, 1928: Born in Rosario, Argentina.

1953: Che qualified as a physician, specializing in dermatology.

July 7, 1953 – 1954: After travelling throughout Latin America he arrived in Guatemala in 1953 where he

meets a group of Cuban exiles who baptize him

'Che'. He witnesses the coup against jacobo Árbenz

organized by the CIA.

July 1955: He meets Fidel Castro and decides to join the 26 july Movement in the fight against the dictatorship

of Fulgencio Batista.

november 25, 1956: Led by Fidel Castro, Che and 81 other men board the yacht 'Granma' to start the

guerrilla war in Cuba's Sierra Maestra mountains.

3 4

Chronology of ErnEs to ‘ChE’ guE var a

July 21, 1957: Che is promoted to Commander. He would go on to lead the 'Ciro Redondo' 8th Column.

february 24, 1958: First broadcast of 'Radio Rebelde', created by Che.

december 29–31, 1958: Che leads the Battle of Santa Clara. This is the final blow against Batista.

January 3, 1959: With the triumph of the Revolution Che arrives in Havana at dawn. He is entrusted by Fidel to

occupy the military fortress of La Cabaña.

June 12, 1959: Che leads a Cuban delegation to the United Arab Republic, India, Indonesia, Sri Lanka,

Yugoslavia, Myanmar, japan, Pakistan, Sudan,

and Morocco to establish commercial, cultural and

diplomatic ties.

october 7, 1959: Che is appointed Head of the Industrialization Department of the National

Institute for Land Reform.

november 26, 1959: Che is appointed President of the Bank of Cuba.

february 23, 1961: Che is appointed Minister of Industry.

35


december 11, 1964: Che speaks at the United Nations General Assembly.

January–March 1965: Travels to China, Mali, Congo, Guinea, Ghana, Dahomey, Tanzania, Egypt, Algeria

meeting with heads of governments and leaders of

national liberation movements.

february 24, 1965: In Algeria, Che speaks at the Second Economic Seminar of Afro-Asian Solidarity.

april 1, 1965: Under disguise, Che leaves Cuba to join the guerrilla forces of Laurent Kabila in the revolutionary

struggle of the Congo.

november 21, 1965: After almost seven months in the Congo and the mission's failure, Che leaves for

Tanzania where he stays clandestinely for several

weeks. At the end of December, he travelled to

Czechoslovakia, where he would also remain

clandestinely for several months.

november 3, 1966: Che arrived in Bolivia to begin the armed struggle in the Ñancahuazú area.

october 8, 1967: He is taken prisoner during combat with Bolivian military under the advice of the CIA at

36


the Quebrada del Yuro.

october 9, 1967: At 1.30 pm Che is assassinated by Sergeant Mario Terán in a small school in the town

of La Higuera.

★


Message

to the Tricontinental

Socialism and

Man in Cuba

39

MeSSaGe To The TriConTinenTal*

Now is the time of the furnaces, and only light

should be seen.

—josé Martí

★

Twenty-one years have already elapsed since the end of

the last world conflict; numerous publications, in every

possible language, celebrate this event, symbolized

by the defeat of japan. There is a climate of apparent

optimism in many areas of the different camps into

which the world is divided.

Twenty-one years without a world war, in these

times of maximum confrontations, of violent clashes

and sudden changes, appears to be a very high figure.

However, without analysing the practical results of

this peace (poverty, degradation, increasingly larger

exploitation of enormous sectors of humanity) for which

* First published by the Organization of the Solidarity of the Peoples of Africa, Asia, and Latin America (OSPAAAL), Havana, April 16, 1967.

4 0


all of us have stated that we are willing to fight, we would

do well to inquire if this peace is real.

It is not the purpose of these notes to detail the

different conflicts of a local character that have been

occurring since the surrender of japan, nor do we intend

to recount the numerous and increasing instances of

civilian strife which have taken place during these years

of apparent peace. It will be enough just to name, as an

example against undue optimism, the wars of Korea

and Vietnam.

In the case of Korea, after years of savage warfare,

the Northern part of the country was submerged in the

most terrible devastation known in the annals of modern

warfare: riddled with bombs; without factories, schools

or hospitals; with absolutely no shelter for housing ten

million inhabitants. Under the discredited flag of the

United Nations, dozens of countries under the military

leadership of the United States participated in this war

with the massive intervention of US soldiers and the use,

as cannon fodder, of the South Korean population that

was enrolled.

On the other side, the army and the people of Korea

and the volunteers from the People's Republic of China

were furnished with supplies and advice by the Soviet

military apparatus. The US tested all sort of weapons

of destruction, excluding the thermo-nuclear type,

but including, on a limited scale, bacteriological and

41

Mes s age to the tricontinenta l

chemical warfare. In Vietnam, the patriotic forces of that

country have carried on an almost uninterrupted war

against three imperialist powers: japan, whose might

suffered an almost vertical collapse after the bombs of

Hiroshima and Nagasaki; France, who recovered from

that defeated country its Indochinese colonies and

ignored the promises it had made in harder times; and

the United States, in this last phase of the struggle.

There were limited confrontations in every continent,

although in Our America, for a long time, there were only

incipient liberation struggles and military coups d'état

until the Cuban revolution resounded the alert, signalling

the importance of this region. This action attracted the

wrath of the imperialists and Cuba was finally obliged

to defend its coasts, first at the Playa Girón [Bay of Pigs],

and again during the Missile Crisis.

This last incident could have unleashed a war of

incalculable proportions if a US–Soviet clash had

occurred over the Cuban question.

But, evidently, the focal point of all contradictions at

present is the territory of the peninsula of Indochina and the

adjacent areas. Laos and Vietnam are shaken by a civil war

which has ceased being such by the entry into the conflict

of US imperialism with all its might, thus transforming

the whole zone into a dangerous detonator ready at any

moment to explode. In Vietnam the confrontation has

assumed extremely acute characteristics. It is not our

42


intention, either, to chronicle this war. We shall simply

remember and point out some milestones.

In 1954, after the annihilating defeat of Dien Bien

Phu, an agreement was signed at Geneva dividing the

country into two separate zones; elections were to be

held within a term of eighteen months to determine

who should govern Vietnam and how the country should

be reunified. The US did not sign this document and

started manoeuvring to substitute the emperor Bao

Dai, who was a French puppet, for a man more amiable

to its purposes. This happened to be Ngo Dinh Diem,

whose tragic end—that of an orange squeezed dry by

imperialism—is well known to all.

During the months following the agreement,

optimism reigned supreme in the camp of the popular

forces. The last pockets of the anti-French resistance

were dismantled in the South of the country and they

awaited the fulfilment of the Geneva agreements. But

the patriots soon realized there would be no elections—

unless the United States felt itself capable of imposing

its will in the polls, which was practically impossible even

resorting to all its fraudulent methods.

Once again, the fighting broke out in the South and

gradually acquired full intensity. At present the US army

has increased to over half a million invaders while the

puppet forces decrease in number and, above all, have

totally lost their combativeness.

43


Almost two years ago, the United States started

systematically bombing the Democratic Republic

of Vietnam, in yet another attempt to overcome the

belligerence of the South and impose, from a position of

strength, a meeting at the conference table. At first, the

bombardments were more or less isolated occurrences

and were adorned with the mask of reprisals for alleged

provocations from the North. Later on, as they increased

in intensity and regularity, they became one gigantic

attack carried out by the air force of the United States,

day after day, for the purpose of destroying all vestiges

of civilization in the Northern zone of the country. This

is an episode of the infamously notorious 'escalation'.

The material aspirations of the Yankee world have been

fulfilled to a great extent, regardless of the unflinching

defence of the Vietnamese anti-aircraft artillery, of

the numerous planes shot down (over 1,700) and of the

socialist countries' aid in war supplies.

There is a sad reality: Vietnam—a nation representing

the aspirations, the hopes of a whole world of forgotten

peoples—is tragically alone. This nation must endure

the furious attacks of US technology, with practically

no possibility of reprisals in the South and only some of

defence in the North—but always alone. The solidarity

of all progressive forces of the world towards the people

of Vietnam today is similar to the bitter irony of the

plebeians coaxing on the gladiators in the Roman arena.

4 4


It is not a matter of wishing success to the victim of

aggression, but of sharing his fate; one must accompany

him to his death or to victory.

When we analyse the lonely situation of the

Vietnamese people, we are overcome by anguish at this

illogical moment of humanity.

US imperialism is guilty of aggression; its crimes are

enormous and cover the whole world. We already know all

that, gentlemen! But this guilt also applies to those who,

in the defining moment, hesitated to make Vietnam an

inviolable part of the socialist world, running, of course,

the risks of a war on a global scale, but also forcing a

decision upon imperialism. Those who maintain a war

of abuse and snares—started quite some time ago by

the representatives of the two greatest powers of the

socialist camp—are guilty, too.

We must ask ourselves, seeking an honest answer:

Is Vietnam isolated, or is it not? Is it not maintaining

a dangerous equilibrium between the two quarrelling

powers? And what great people these are! What

stoicism and courage! And what a lesson for the world is

contained in this struggle!

Not for a long time shall we be able to know if

President johnson ever seriously thought of bringing

about some of the reforms needed by his people in order

to polish the edges of the class contradictions that grow

with explosive power more and more with the passing of

45


every day. The truth is that the improvements announced

under the pompous title of the struggle for a 'Great

Society' have dropped into the cesspool of Vietnam.

The largest of all imperialist powers feels in its own

guts the bleeding inflicted by a poor and underdeveloped

country; its fabulous economy feels the strain of the

war effort. Murder is ceasing to be the most convenient

business for its monopolies. Defensive weapons, and never

in adequate numbers, are all that these extraordinary

soldiers have besides love for their homeland, love for

their society, and unsurpassed courage. But imperialism

is being bogged down in Vietnam; it is unable to find a

way out and desperately seeks one that will overcome

with dignity this dangerous situation in which it now

finds itself. Furthermore, the Four Points put forward by

the North and the Five Points of the South now corner

imperialism, making the confrontation even more

decisive.

Everything seems to indicate that peace—this

unstable peace which bears that name for the sole

reason that no worldwide conflagration has taken

place—is again in danger of being destroyed by some

irrevocable and unacceptable step taken by the United

States. What role shall we, the exploited people of the

world, play? The peoples of the three continents focus

their attention on Vietnam and learn their lesson. Since

imperialists blackmail humanity by threatening it with

4 6


war, the wise reaction is not to fear war. The general

tactics of the people should be to launch a constant and

a firm attack on all fronts where the confrontation is

taking place. In those places where this meagre peace

we have has been violated, what is our duty? To liberate

ourselves at any price.

The world panorama is of great complexity. The

struggle for liberation has not yet been undertaken by

some countries of ancient Europe, which are sufficiently

developed to realize the contradictions of capitalism,

but weak to such a degree that they are unable either

to follow imperialism or even to start on their own

road. Their contradictions will reach an explosive stage

during the forthcoming years—but their problems, and,

consequently, their own solutions, are different from those

of our dependent and economically underdeveloped

countries.

The fundamental field of imperialist exploitation

comprises the three underdeveloped continents:

America, Asia, and Africa. Every country also has its

own characteristics, but each continent, as a whole, also

presents a certain unity.

Our America is made up of a group of more or less

homogeneous countries and, in almost all of its territory,

US monopolist capital maintains an absolute supremacy.

Puppet governments or, in the best of cases, weak

and fearful local rulers, are incapable of contradicting

47


orders from their Yankee master. The United States has

nearly reached the climax of its political and economic

domination; it could hardly advance much more. Any

change in the situation could bring about a setback.

Its policy is to maintain that which has already been

conquered. The line of action, at the present time, is

limited to the brutal use of force with the purpose of

thwarting the liberation movements, no matter of what

type they might happen to be.

The slogan 'we will not allow another Cuba' hides

the possibility of perpetrating aggressions without

fear of reprisal, such as the one carried out against

the Dominican Republic or, before that, the massacre

in Panama. It hides, too, the clear warning stating

that Yankee troops are ready to intervene anywhere in

America where the ruling regime may be altered, thus

endangering their interests. This policy enjoys an almost

absolute impunity. The OAS is a suitable mask, in spite of

its unpopularity; the inefficiency of the UN is ridiculous

as well as tragic; the armies of all American countries

are ready to intervene in order to smash their people.

The International of Crime and Treason has in fact

been organized. On the other hand, the autochthonous

bourgeoisies have entirely lost their capacity to oppose

imperialism—if they ever had it—and they have become

the last card in the pack. There are no other alternatives;

either a socialist revolution or a caricature of a revolution.

4 8


Asia is a continent with many different characteris-

tics. The struggles for liberation waged against a series of

European colonial powers resulted in the establishment

of more or less progressive governments, whose

ulterior evolution has brought about, in some cases,

the deepening of the primary objectives of national

liberation and, in others, a setback towards the adoption

of pro-imperialist positions.

From an economic point of view, the United States

had very little to lose and much to gain from Asia. These

changes benefited its interests; the struggle to overthrow

other neocolonial powers and penetrate new spheres of

action in the economic field is sometimes carried out

directly, occasionally through japan.

But there are special political conditions, particularly

in Indochina, which create in Asia certain characteristics

of paramount importance and play a decisive role in

the entire US military strategy. The imperialists encircle

China through South Korea, japan, Taiwan, South

Vietnam and Thailand—at least.

This dual situation, a strategic interest as important

as the military encirclement of the People's Republic of

China and the penetration of these great markets—

which they do not yet dominate—turns Asia into one of

the most explosive points of the world today, in spite of its

apparent stability outside of the Vietnamese war zone.

The Middle East, though it geographically belongs to

49


this continent, has its own contradictions and is actively

in ferment; it is impossible to foretell how far this cold

war between Israel, backed by the imperialists, and the

progressive countries of that zone will go. This is just

another one of the volcanoes threatening to erupt in the

world today.

Africa offers an almost virgin territory to the

neocolonial invasion. There have been changes which, to

some extent, forced neocolonial powers to give up their

former absolute prerogatives. But when these changes

are carried out uninterruptedly, colonialism continues in

the form of neocolonialism, with similar effects as far as

the economic situation is concerned. The United States

had no colonies in this region but is now struggling

to penetrate its associates' properties. It can be said

that, following the strategic plans of US imperialism,

Africa constitutes its long-range reservoir. Its present

investments, though, are only important in the Union of

South Africa, and its penetration is beginning to be felt

in the Congo, Nigeria and other countries where a violent

rivalry with other imperialist powers is beginning to take

place (in a peaceful manner up to the present time).

So far, it does not have great interests to defend

except for its alleged right to intervene in every spot of

the world where its monopolies detect huge profits or the

existence of large reserves of raw materials. All this past

history justifies our concern regarding the possibilities of

50


liberating the peoples within a long or a short period of

time.

If we stop to analyse Africa, we shall observe that

in the Portuguese colonies of Guinea, Mozambique and

Angola the struggle is waged with relative intensity, with

concrete success in the former and with variable success

in the latter two. In the Congo we still witness the dispute

between Lumumba's successors and the old accomplices

of Tshombe, a dispute which at the present time seems

to favour the latter—those who have 'pacified' a large

area of the country for their own benefit—though the

war is still latent.

In Rhodesia we have a different problem: British

imperialism used every means within its reach to place

power in the hands of the white minority, who, at the

present time, unlawfully holds it. The conflict, from the

British point of view, is absolutely unofficial; this Western

power, with its habitual diplomatic cleverness—also

called hypocrisy in the strict sense of the word—presents

a facade of displeasure before the measures adopted

by the government of Ian Smith. Its crafty attitude

is supported by some Commonwealth countries that

follow it but is attacked by a large group of countries

belonging to Black Africa, whether or not they are servile

economic lackeys of British imperialism.

Should the rebellious efforts of these patriots succeed,

and this movement receive the effective support of

51


neighbouring African nations, the situation in Rhodesia

may become extremely explosive. But, for the moment,

all of these problems are being discussed in harmless

organizations such as the UN, the Commonwealth and

the OAU.

The social and political evolution of Africa does not

lead us to expect a continental revolution. The liberation

struggle against the Portuguese should end victoriously,

but Portugal is of no significance in the imperialist field.

The confrontations of revolutionary importance are

those which place at bay the entirety of the imperialist

apparatus; this does not mean, however, that we should

stop fighting for the liberation of the three Portuguese

colonies and for the deepening of their revolutions.

When the black masses of South Africa or Rhodesia

start their authentic revolutionary struggle, or when

the impoverished masses of a nation rise up to rescue

their right to a decent life from the hands of the ruling

oligarchies, a new era will begin in Africa.

Up to now, army putsches follow one another; a group

of officers succeeds another or substitutes a ruler who no

longer serves their caste interests or those of the powers

who covertly manage him—but there are no great popular

upheavals. In the Congo, these characteristics appeared

briefly, generated by the memory of Lumumba, but they

have been losing strength in the last few months.

In Asia, as we have seen, the situation is explosive.

52


The points of friction are not only Vietnam and Laos,

where there is fighting; Cambodia is also such a point,

where at any time a direct US aggression may start, as

are Thailand, Malaysia, and, of course, Indonesia, where

we cannot assume that the last word has been said,

despite the annihilation of the Communist Party in that

country when the reactionaries took over. And, of course,

the Middle East.

In Latin America, the armed struggle is going on

in Guatemala, Colombia, Venezuela and Bolivia; the

first uprisings are cropping up in Brazil. There are also

some pockets of resistance which appear and then

are extinguished. But almost all the countries of this

continent are ripe for a type of struggle that, in order

to achieve victory, cannot be content with anything less

than establishing a government of socialist tendencies.

In this continent, practically only one tongue is spoken

(with the exception of Brazil, with whose people those who

speak Spanish can easily make themselves understood,

owing to the great similarity of both languages). There

is such a great similarity between the classes in these

countries that they have attained an 'international

American'-type identity among themselves, much more

complete than in the other continents. Language, habits,

religion, a common foreign master, unite them. The

degree and the form of exploitation are similar for both

the exploiters and the men they exploit in the majority

53


of the countries of Our America. And rebellion is ripening

swiftly in it.

We may ask ourselves: how shall this rebellion

flourish? What type will it be? We have maintained for

quite some time now that, owing to the similarity of their

characteristics, the struggle in Our America will achieve

continental proportions in due course. It shall be the

scene of many great battles fought for the liberation of

humanity.

Within the frame of this struggle of a continental

scale, the battles that are now taking place are only

episodes—but they have already furnished their martyrs,

they shall figure in the history of Our America as having

given their necessary blood in this last stage of the fight

for the total freedom of man. These names will include

Comandante Turcios Lima, Father Camilo Torres,

Comandante Fabricio Ojeda, Comandantes Lobatón

and Luis de la Puente Uceda, all outstanding figures in

the revolutionary movements of Guatemala, Colombia,

Venezuela and Peru.

But the active mobilization of the people creates

its new leaders; César Montes and Yon Sosa raise up

their flag in Guatemala; Fabio Vázquez and Marulanda

in Colombia; Douglas Bravo in the Western part of

the country and Américo Martín in El Bachiller, both

directing their respective Venezuelan fronts.

New uprisings shall take place in these and other

54


countries of Our America, as has already happened in

Bolivia, and they shall continue to grow in the midst of

all the hardships inherent to this dangerous profession of

being modern revolutionaries. Many shall perish, victims

of their errors; others will fall in the tough battle that

approaches; new fighters and new leaders will appear

in the warmth of the revolutionary struggle. The people

will create their warriors and leaders in the selective

framework of the war itself; and Yankee agents of

repression shall increase. Today, there are military aides

in all the countries where armed struggle is growing; the

Peruvian army apparently carried out a successful action

against the revolutionaries in that country, an army also

trained and advised by the Yankees. But if the pockets

of war grow with sufficient political and military insight,

they will become practically unstoppable and will force

the Yankees to send reinforcements. In Peru itself many

new figures, practically unknown, are now reorganizing

the guerrilla. Little by little, the obsolete weapons, which

are sufficient for the repression of small armed bands,

will be exchanged for modern armaments and the US

military aides will be substituted by actual fighters until,

at a given moment, they are forced to send an increasingly

greater number of regular troops to ensure the relative

stability of a government whose national puppet army

is disintegrating before the impetuous attacks of the

guerrillas. It is the road of Vietnam; it is the road that

55


should be followed by the people; it is the road that will

be followed in Our America, with the advantage that the

armed groups could create Coordinating Councils to

embarrass the repressive forces of Yankee imperialism

and accelerate the revolutionary triumph.

America, a forgotten continent in the last liberation

struggles, is now beginning to make itself heard through

the Tricontinental and, in the voice of the vanguard of

its people, the Cuban Revolution, will today have a task

of much greater relevance: creating a second or a third

Vietnam, or the second and third Vietnam of the world.

We must bear in mind that imperialism is a world

system, the last stage of capitalism—and it must be

defeated in a world confrontation. The strategic end of

this struggle should be the destruction of imperialism.

Our share, the responsibility of the exploited and

underdeveloped of the world is to eliminate the

foundations of imperialism: our oppressed nations,

from where they extract capital, raw materials, cheap

technicians and labour, and to which they export new

capital—instruments of domination—arms and all

kinds of articles, thus submerging us in an absolute

dependence. The fundamental element of this strategic

end will be the real liberation of all people, a liberation

that will be brought about through armed struggle in

most cases and that will be, in Our America, almost

indefectibly, a Socialist Revolution.

56


While envisaging the destruction of imperialism, it is

necessary to identify its head, which is no other than the

United States of America.

We must carry out a general task with the tactical

purpose of getting the enemy out of its natural

environment, forcing him to fight in regions where his

own life and habits will clash with the existing reality.

We must not underrate our adversary; the US soldier

has technical capabilities and is backed by weapons

and resources of such magnitude that render him

frightful. He lacks the essential ideologic motivation

which his bitterest enemies of today—the Vietnamese

soldiers—have in the highest degree. We will only be able

to overcome that army by undermining their morale—

and this is accomplished by defeating it and causing it

repeated sufferings.

But this brief outline of victories carries within itself the

immense sacrifice of the people, sacrifices that should be

demanded beginning today, in plain daylight, and that

perhaps may be less painful than those we would have to

endure if we constantly avoided battle in an attempt to

have others pull our chestnuts out of the fire.

It is probable, of course, that the last liberated

country shall accomplish this without an armed struggle

and the sufferings of a long and cruel war against the

imperialists—this they might avoid. But perhaps it will be

impossible to avoid this struggle or its effects in a global

57


dispute; the suffering would be the same, or perhaps

even greater. We cannot foresee the future, but we

should never give in to the defeatist temptation of being

the vanguard of a nation which yearns for freedom but

abhors the struggle it entails and awaits its freedom as

a crumb of victory.

It is absolutely just to avoid all useless sacrifices. That

is why it is so important to be clear about the real possibil-

ities that dependent America may have of liberating

itself through peaceful means. For us, the solution to this

question is quite clear: the present moment may or may

not be the proper one for starting the struggle, but we

cannot harbour any illusions—nor do we have the right to

do so—that freedom can be obtained without fighting.

And these battles shall not be mere street fights with

stones against tear gas, or of peaceful general strikes;

nor shall it be the battle of a furious people destroying

in two or three days the repressive scaffolds of the ruling

oligarchies. The struggle shall be long and harsh, and its

front shall be in the guerrilla's refuges, in the cities, in

the homes of the fighters—where the repressive forces

shall go seeking easy victims among their families—in

the massacred rural population, in the villages or cities

destroyed by the bombardments of the enemy.

They are pushing us into this struggle. There is no

alternative: we must prepare it and we must decide to

undertake it.

58


The beginning will not be easy; it will be extremely

difficult. The entirety of the oligarchies' capacity

for repression, all their capacity for brutality and

demagoguery, will be placed at the service of their cause.

Our mission, in the first hour, shall be to survive; later,

we shall follow the perennial example of the guerrilla,

carrying out armed propaganda (in the Vietnamese

sense, that is, the propaganda of bullets, of the battles

won or lost—but fought—against the enemy). The great

lesson of the invincibility of the guerrillas is taking root in

the dispossessed masses. The galvanizing of the national

spirit, the preparation for harder tasks, for resisting even

more violent repressions. Hatred is an element of the

struggle; a relentless hatred of the enemy that impels us

over and beyond the natural limitations of human beings

and transforms them into an effective, violent, selective

and cold killing machine. This is how our soldiers must

be; a people without hatred cannot vanquish a brutal

enemy.

We must carry the war into every corner where

the enemy brings it: to his home, to his centres of

entertainment—a total war. We must prevent him from

having a moment of peace, a quiet moment outside of

his barracks or even inside; we must attack him wherever

he may be, make him feel like a cornered beast wherever

he may move. Then his morale shall begin to decline. He

will even become more beastly, but we will notice how

59


the signs of decadence begin to appear.

And let us develop a true proletarian internationalism;

with international proletarian armies; the flag under

which we fight would be the sacred cause of redeeming

humanity. To die under the flag of Vietnam, of Venezuela,

of Guatemala, of Laos, of Guinea, of Colombia, of

Bolivia, of Brazil—to name only a few sites of today's

armed struggle—would be equally glorious and desirable

for an American, an Asian, an African, even a European.

Each drop of blood spilled in any country under

whose flag one has not been born is an experience

passed on to those who survive, to be added later to the

liberation struggle of his country of origin. When any

people is liberated, it marks a phase won in the battle for

the liberation of one's own country.

The time has come to settle our discrepancies and

place everything at the service of our struggle.

We all know that struggles for liberation stir great

controversies in the world; we cannot hide it. We also

know that these struggles have reached such a character

and such intensity that the possibility of dialogue and

reconciliation seems extremely difficult, if not impossible.

It is a useless task to initiate a dialogue with avoidant

opponents. But the enemy is there; he strikes every day,

and threatens us with new blows—and these blows will

unite us, today, tomorrow, or the day after. Whoever

understands this first, and prepares for this necessary

6 0


union will have the people's gratitude.

Owing to the virulence and the intransigence with

which each cause is defended, we, the dispossessed,

cannot take sides for one form or the other of these

discrepancies, even when sometimes we coincide with

the contentions of one party or the other, or in a greater

measure with those of one part more than with those

of the other. In times of war, the expression of current

differences constitutes a weakness; but at this stage,

it is an illusion to attempt to settle them by means of

words. History shall erode them or shall give them their

true meaning.

In our world in struggle, every discrepancy regarding

tactics, the methods of action for the attainment of

limited objectives, should be analysed with due respect

to another man's opinions. Regarding our great strategic

objective—the total destruction of imperialism by armed

struggle—we should be uncompromising.

Let us sum up our hopes for victory: the destruction

of imperialism by eliminating its firmest bulwark—the

oppression exercised by the United States of America—

to carry out, as a tactical method, the people's gradual

liberation, one by one or in groups, driving the enemy

into a difficult fight away from its own territory, and

dismantling all its bases of sustenance, that is, its

dependent territories.

This means a long war. And—once more—we repeat

61


it, a cruel war. Let no one fool himself at the outset

and let no one hesitate when it begins for fear of the

consequences it may bring to his people. It is almost our

sole hope for victory. We cannot avoid the call of the

hour. Vietnam is pointing it out with its endless lesson of

heroism, its tragic and everyday lesson of struggle and

death for the attainment of final victory.

There, the imperialist soldiers endure the discomfort

of those who, used to enjoying the US standard of living,

have to live in a hostile land with the insecurity of being

unable to move without being aware of walking in enemy

territory, death to those who dare take a step out of their

fortified encampment, the permanent hostility of the

entire population. All of this has internal repercussions

in the United States: it propels the resurgence of an

element which is being minimized in spite of its vigour

by all imperialist forces; class struggle even within its

own territory.

How close we could look into a bright future should

two, three or many Vietnams flourish throughout the

world with their share of deaths and their immense

tragedies, their everyday heroism and their repeated

blows against imperialism, impelled to disperse their

forces under the sudden attack of the increasing hatred

of all people of the world!

And if we were all capable of uniting to make our blows

stronger and infallible, and so increase the effectiveness

62


of all kinds of support given to the struggling people—

how great and close would that future be!

If we, in a small point of the world map, are able to

fulfil our duty and place at the disposal of this struggle

whatever little of ourselves we are permitted to give: our

lives, our sacrifice, and if some day we have to breathe

our last breath on any land, already ours, sprinkled

with our blood, let it be known that we have measured

the scope of our actions. We only consider ourselves

elements in the great army of the proletariat, but we are

proud of having learned from the Cuban Revolution, and

from its maximum leader, the great lesson emanating

from his attitude in this part of the world: 'What do the

dangers or the sacrifices of a man or of a nation matter,

when the destiny of humanity is at stake.'

Our every action is a battle cry against imperialism,

and a battle hymn for the people's unity against the

great enemy of mankind: the United States of America.

Wherever death may surprise us, let it be welcome,

provided that this, our battle cry, may have reached

some receptive ear and another hand may be extended

to wield our weapons and other men be ready to sing the

funeral hymns with the staccato singing of the machine

guns and new battle cries of war and victory.

★

63

SoCialiSM and Man in CuBa*

Dear comrade,

I am completing these notes in the course of my trip

through Africa, driven by my desire to come through

with my promise, even if belatedly. I would like to do so

by addressing the theme set forth in the title above. I

think it may be of interest to Uruguayan readers.

A common argument from the mouths of capitalist

spokespeople in the ideological struggle against

socialism is that socialism—or the period of building

socialism into which we have entered—is characterized

by the abolition of the individual in the interest of the

state. I will not try to refute this argument solely on

theoretical grounds, but rather to establish the facts as

they exist in Cuba and then add comments of a general

nature. Let me begin by broadly sketching the history of

our revolutionary struggle before and after taking power.

As is well known, july 26, 1953, is the exact date that

the revolutionary activities began that would culminate

* This letter was sent to Carlos Quijano, the editor of the Uruguayan weekly publication Marcha. It was published on March 12, 1965.

in january 1959. In the early morning of that day, a group

led by Fidel Castro attacked the Moncada barracks in

the Oriente Province. The attack was a failure; the failure

became a disaster; and the survivors ended up in prison,

beginning the revolutionary struggle again after they

were freed by an amnesty.

During this process, in which there were only seeds

of socialism, man was a fundamental factor. We put

our trust in him—individual, specific, with a first and

last name—and the triumph or failure of the mission

entrusted to him depended on that man's capacity for

action.

Then came the stage of guerrilla struggle. It developed

in two distinct environments: the people—the still sleeping

mass that had to be mobilized—and its vanguard,

the guerrillas, the motor force of the mobilization, the

generator of revolutionary consciousness and militant

enthusiasm. This vanguard was the catalysing agent that

created the subjective conditions necessary for victory.

Here again, in the framework of the proletarianization

of our thinking, of this revolution that took place

in our habits and our minds, the individual was the

fundamental factor. Every one of the combatants of

the Sierra Maestra who reached an upper rank in the

revolutionary forces has a record of outstanding deeds

to his credit; each attained their rank on this basis.

This was the first heroic period in which combatants

65

struggled for roles with greater responsibilities, greater

dangers, with no other satisfaction than fulfilling a duty.

In our work of revolutionary education, we frequently

return to this instructive theme. The man of the future

can be glimpsed in the attitude of our fighters.

The act of total dedication to the revolutionary cause

was repeated in other moments of our history. During

the October Crisis and in the days of Hurricane Flora we

saw exceptional deeds of valour and sacrifice performed

by an entire people. Finding the method to perpetuate

this heroic attitude in daily life is, from the ideological

standpoint, one of our fundamental tasks.

In january 1959, the revolutionary government was

established with the participation of various members

of the treacherous bourgeoisie. The presence of the Rebel

Army was the basic element constituting the guarantee

of power.

Serious contradictions developed right away. In the

first instance, in February 1959, these were resolved when

Fidel Castro assumed leadership of the government,

taking the post of prime minister. This process culminated

in july of the same year with the resignation of President

Urrutia under pressure from the masses.

In the history of the Cuban Revolution there now

appeared a character, well defined in its features,

which would systematically reappear: the masses. This

multifaceted being is not, as is claimed, the sum of

66


elements of the same type (reduced, moreover, to that

same type by the ruling system), which acts like a flock

of sheep. It is true that it follows its leaders, particularly

Fidel Castro, without hesitation. But the degree to which

he won this trust results precisely from having interpreted

the full meaning of the people's desires and aspirations,

and from the sincere struggle to fulfil the promises made.

The masses participated in agrarian reform and in

the difficult task of administering state enterprises; they

went through the heroic experience of the Playa Girón

[Bay of Pigs]; they were hardened by the battles against

various groups of bandits armed by the CIA; they lived

through one of the most important defining moments of

modern times during the October Crisis; and today they

continue to work to build socialism.

Viewed superficially, it might appear that those

who speak of the subordination of the individual to the

state are right. The masses carry out the tasks set by the

government with unmatched enthusiasm and discipline,

whether in the field of the economy, culture, defence,

sports, etc. The initiative generally comes from Fidel, or

from the revolutionary leadership, and is explained to the

people, who make it their own. In some cases the Party

and government take a local experience and generalize

it, following the same procedure.

Nevertheless, the state sometimes makes mistakes.

When one of these mistakes occurs, one notes a decline in

67

Socia liSm a nd m a n in cuba

collective enthusiasm due to the effect of a quantitative

decrease in each of the elements that make up the mass;

work is paralysed until it is reduced to an insignificant

level; and it is time to make a correction. That is what

happened in March 1962 as a result of the sectarian

policy imposed on the Party by Aníbal Escalante.

Clearly this mechanism is not enough to ensure

a succession of sensible measures; a more structured

connection with the masses is needed, which we must

improve in the course of the coming years. But, as

far as initiatives originating in the upper strata of the

government are concerned, we are currently utilizing

the almost intuitive method of sounding out general

reactions to the problems that we are facing.

In this, Fidel is a master. His own special way of

becoming integrated with the people can be appreciated

only by seeing him in action. At the great public mass

meetings, one can observe something like the dialogue

of two tuning forks whose vibrations interact, producing

new sounds. Fidel and the masses begin to vibrate

together in a dialogue of growing intensity until they

reach the climax in an abrupt conclusion crowned by

our cry of struggle and victory.

The difficult thing to understand for someone who

is not living through the experience of the Revolution is

this close dialectical unity between the individual and

the masses, in which both are interrelated and, at the

68


same time, in which the masses, as an aggregate of

individuals, interact with its leaders.

Some phenomena of this kind can be seen under

capitalism, when politicians appear capable of

mobilizing popular opinion. But when these are not

genuine social movements—if they were, it would not

be entirely correct to call them capitalist—they live only

so long as the individual who inspires them, or until

the harshness of capitalist society puts an end to the

people's illusions. In capitalist society, man is controlled by a pitiless law usually beyond their comprehension.

The alienated human being is tied to society as a whole

by an invisible umbilical cord: the law of value. This law

acts upon all aspects of one's life, shaping its course and

destiny.

The laws of capitalism, which are blind and are

invisible to ordinary people, act upon the individual

without him noticing. One sees only the vastness of

a seemingly infinite horizon ahead. That is how it is

painted by capitalist propaganda, which purports to

draw a lesson from the example of Rockefeller—whether

or not it is true—about the possibilities of individual

success. The amount of poverty and suffering required

for a Rockefeller to emerge, and the amount of depravity

entailed in the accumulation of a fortune of such

magnitude, are left out of the picture, and it is not always

possible for the popular forces to expose this clearly. (A

69

Socia liSm a nd m a n in cuba

discussion of how the workers in the imperialist countries

gradually lose the spirit of working-class internationalism

due to a certain degree of complicity in the exploitation

of the dependent countries, and how this at the same

time weakens the spirit of struggle of the masses in the

imperialist countries, would be appropriate here, but that

is a theme that goes beyond the scope of these notes.)

In any case, the road to success is portrayed as beset

with perils—perils that, it would seem, an individual with

the proper qualities can overcome to attain the goal.

The reward is seen in the distance; the path is solitary.

Furthermore, it is a race among wolves; one can win only

at the cost of others' failure.

I would now like to try to define the individual, the

actor in this strange and moving drama of the building

of socialism, in a dual existence as a unique being and

as a member of society. I think that it is simplest to

recognize the individual's quality of incompleteness, of

being an unfinished product.

The vestiges of the past are brought into the present in

one's consciousness, and a continual labour is necessary

to eradicate them. The process is two-sided

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